New Delhi, Nov 22 (PTI) Union minister Jayant Sinha saidtoday that the government was aiming at implementing theconcept of 'digital sky' for drones to ensure smoothoperations of rising numbers of unmanned aerial vehicles.
Sinha was addressing a consultation process conducted bythe Directorate General of Civil Aviation for finalising rulesfor drones.
Earlier this month, the civil aviation ministry unveileddraft norms for operating drones or unmanned aerial system(UAS) for civilian purposes. under the rules, a uniqueidentification number and radio frequency tags would be amandatory requirement for operating drones.
"Increasingly the way in which people are thinking aboutthe use of unmanned aerial vehicles is that you create adigital space where every point in that 3-D digital space ismapped out.
"When someone wants to operate a drone, they will have tofile a digital flight plan and through a software monitoringprogramme and ground radars you ensure that the digital flightplan is faithfully followed," the Union Minister of State forCivil Aviation said.
He said that the sheer volume of drone technology makesdigitisation imperative.
Industry representatives present at the event requestedfor a single-window clearance for drones, revision of heightlimit for flying a UAS as well a mechanism to punish roguedrones.
There were suggestions made to ensure training of pilots,especially in handling emergencies as well as laying down ofcriteria to ensure they are medically fit to operate drones.
"While the public consultation process is on, we get lotsof comments from different segments of the aviation sector. Wewill take those into consideration and we will see how best tohandle with those concerns," Sinha told reporters. PTI JCSMN.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.